About

Life is not about existing, it’s about living. Life is not about waiting, it’s about going. Life is not about the future, it’s about the present. And that is what Dang Travelers is all about. Inspire and be inspired to indulge in all that this wonderful world has to offer! Welcome and thanks for visiting!

Who We Are

We are Dang Travelers, David and Angela, a married couple in our late-thirties who have an obsession with travel. We kissed for the first time in Denmark, decided to move in together while hot tubbing in Hawaii, got engaged on the Eiffel Tower in France and married on a beach in Mexico. Throughout our ten year marriage, we have continued our love affair with wanderlust by exploring new places and challenging the normal 9-5 life.

The Dang Travelers mission is to highlight amazing locations, pass along budget-friendly tips, share our favorite travel resources, and to post about our journey from part-time to full-time travel.

Where It All Began

David was raised by missionary parents in a converted school bus for the first five years of his life, and was exposed to location independence at an early age. Wanderlust has been part of his DNA since then. His family traveled a considerable amount growing up, but always on a budget, and usually camping.

He chose a career in aviation after high school, lured by the expectation of a flexible schedule and travel benefits. After graduating college he joined the Air National Guard, where he met his now wife, Angela.

Angela grew up in Chicago taking limited vacations as a child. Her aunt and uncle would take her on some of their family trips and that is where her excitement for travel began.

Right after high school graduation, she joined the Air National Guard to pay for college. It opened doors on traveling to exotic places and meeting new people, including David.

Together they maintained a long distance relationship, then marriage, for a total of 11 years. Angela was working 60+ hours a week as a CPA while David commuted back and forth from the St. Louis area to Chicago (600 miles round trip). By year 12, both Angela and David were tired of the distance and ready for a change.

In 2014, they made the BIG decision for Angela to quit her full-time position. Then in 2015, Dave transitioned into a part-time position allowing them to travel on a more long-term basis like our three month summer road trip visiting eleven national parks.

Where We Are Going

Angela’s goal is to visit all 50 states by the time she turns forty in a few years. David has already explored every state across America, but some were when he was young so he is just as excited to jump on this journey. While David is working part-time (a few months out of the year), Dang Travelers will travel throughout the states. During long breaks, Dang Travelers will adventure to other parts of the world.

Some of our future goals include hiking the El Camino in Spain, trekking to Machu Picchu, biking along the Rhine, taking an African Safari and seeing the butterfly migration in Mexico.

How We Travel

We strongly believe in budget travel. We find ourselves in the middle of the road on spending except when we are truck camping which is a little extreme. We rarely book on the luxury side except when it involves using hotel loyalty programs or if we are getting luxury accommodations for a budget price.

With that in mind, we don’t go for the cheapest option either. We don’t typically stay in hostels or couchsurf. We usually stay in hotels during short-term travel and camp and rent apartments for long-term trips.